Outrun 2 - Daytona USA 2 bonus tracks JPN/UK comparison
40So, as I've demonstrated and talked about in previous videos, the Western and Japanese versions of Outrun 2 on the Xbox have got some big graphical differences in their representations of the Daytona USA 2 and Scud Race themed bonus stages.
The story I read somewhere ages back, is that the UK, Euro and US games were produced and released first. When it came to releasing Outrun 2 for the Japanese market, apparently Sega of Japan ordered Sumo Digital to make a few changes to make the bonus stages more visually accurate to the original arcade Daytona USA 2 and Scud Race source material.
This lead to some significant changes between the Eastern and Western version. I've done numerous comparisons between them before, but as I'm now finally able to do decent quality component cable capture of the JPN tracks running on my softmodded OG Xbox (as opposed to the composite cable video capture I relied on before), I though, eeehh, what's the harm in doing one more.
The difference in brightness between the 2 is, I think, just a byproduct of slightly different capture methods. The UK version of Outrun 2 was being played on my Xbox 360 and captured via HDMI input, Vs the JPN version being captured via component on my OG Xbox. I did think about fiddling with the brightness and saturation on both to make them match, but decided in the end to just leave them alone.
I have done things a little differently here to previous comparisons, by giving the two versions a staggered start. The JPN version of the game starts on the correct section of the track compared to the actual 'Challenge Course' in Daytona USA 2: Power Edition. In the Western one, it starts further back than Daytona USA 2 did. So, rather than syncing the 3-2-1 timers up, I've actually given the JPN game a slightly delayed start, so the games actually sync up in the crazy castle area. Starting further back on the track in Outrun 2 is less accurate to the arcade version, but it does actually make it easier to tackle the first proper corner you get to if you're using manual gears, because in the JPN version you don't really have enough of a run up to get up to the speed to initiate a proper full speed gear drift (I find it easier to just keep the speed down a bit and get through without starting a drift).
In the Japanese game the bunki is covered over as you move from the first stage of the Challenge Course (Joypolis 2020 Amusement Park - advanced) to the second part (Virtua City expert), like in the arcade version of Daytona USA 2. In the western game it just looks like a regular Outrun 2 bunki. This is a big, big improvement. It also means the two versions have different checkpoint exits. I slow down the JPN video for a short period here, to allow the games to be in proper sync once they get into Virtua city.
You come out of the bunki in the correct area in the JPN version compared to the arcade Challenge course (which actually makes it much harder), than you did in the western game. The western game brings you out into a slightly different, earlier part of Virtua city, which is a little easier to navigate... this actually means that although the JPN version is more arcade accurate, you do actually get more bang for your buck as far as the Daytona 2 expert stage goes in the western game, including the big U turn at the end of it by the Great Central Station.
#outrun2 #daytonausa #sega
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